Luke 5:1-3 - The Lord Needs You and Your Possessions

First let me say a word about our little grandson Luke. Many of you probably saw Kimberly’s post last evening about Luke having to go into surgery again for another shunt failure. It appears that the surgery went well, but when he came out and was in post op his oxygen level dropped to 36, he was turning blue, and they called a code blue. The anesthesiologist came in and bagged him and was about to put in a breathing tube, but he started breathing better on his own. Edith and I were able to face time with Kimberly and Luke late last night and he appeared to be better but no smiles. We can’t thank you enough for your prayers and support for Luke, Kimberly, Chris and our family over these past two years and now!   Please continue to pray for his recovery today, and also for an upcoming appointment in November with a neurosurgeon at Boston’s Children's Hospital in Massachusetts. We have been told that this surgeon is a specialist in Luke’s medical condition. Boston’s Children’s Hospital has been ranked the “World’s Best Specialized Hospital” (pediatrics), topping the list of 250 children’s hospitals around the globe. At the same time, we are so thankful for all the medical care that Luke has received at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital over these past two years. He would not be alive without it. Thank you again for your love, prayers and support during this difficult time.   Let’s go now to Luke 1:1-3. I love how this passage begins, “So it was….”. In this dark region of Galilee, Jesus had been healing people, casting out demons, and preaching and teaching in the synagogues. The people were flocking to hear Him and now back at the north end of the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum, the crowd had grown so large it was described as a multitude, and they were so pressing upon Jesus that His back was up against the water, and He couldn’t back up anymore. Wow! Don’t you wish people that were that hungry for the Word of God in America today.   Jesus sees two boats nearby with their owners sitting nearby washing and drying their nets after fishing all night and catching nothing. I can picture them somewhat tired, disappointed and frustrated as this large crowd has descended upon them and Jesus is teaching. But they continued cleansing their nets and probably listened to Jesus at the same time. Best we can tell from these scriptures these ship owners were brothers, Peter and Andrew, and James and John. We know that John, Andrew and Peter had met and accepted Jesus as the Messiah in John 1 at the Jordan River baptism site of John the Baptist at the baptism of Jesus and the beginning of His ministry.   By the way, this event is not parallel to the one described in Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20. In those accounts, Peter and Andrew were busy fishing, but in this account, they had fished all night and caught nothing and were washing their nets. But it was at this time that Jesus would call them to a life of full-time discipleship.   Jesus sees the two boats and gets into the one that is Simon Peter’s. Jesus ask Peter to put the boat out a little way from the shore and He continued to teach the people out of it. Peter was ready to allow his boat to be used for the Master. Can you imagine the honor he must have felt to the means of helping Jesus to reach the pressing crowd! Jesus was able to do this through Simon’s boat.   When you think about it, how is this same Jesus to reach and teach the millions, yes, the billions of lost people on earth today? Much in the same way, through us and our possessions. Paul asks this question in Romans 10:14-15, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?...”   Are you willing to be obedient to the Lord and to give Him your possessions to share the Gospel with the masses of lost and unreached people of the world today?   God bless!